Trauma care

The Royal Melbourne Hospital is Victoria's oldest hospital and has a long history of caring for trauma patients.

RMH is one of three major Trauma services designated to care for Victoria's most severely injured patients. We care for around 4,000 trauma patients every year, with up to 1,000 being major traumas.

Our Trauma service integrates with other trauma service providers across the state metropolitan and rural areas to ensure the highest standard of care for all trauma patients.

We provide emergency, trauma and critical care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are never closed to trauma.

Injury prevention

Trauma and the resulting injuries are the leading cause of death and disability in young Australians.

These traumatic injuries are often sustained as a result of risk taking behaviours such as drink driving, speeding and assaults. Over the last 5 years, we admitted over 5,000 patients aged 15-25 years, with 30% of patients sustaining life threatening injuries with long term consequences.

The most common causes of these injuries are road trauma (48% cars and pedestrians), assaults and fights (28%), and falls (14%). Where there has been serious and life threatening injuries sustained, 35% of these cases involved drugs or alcohol in some way.

“Road trauma costs Victorians close to $4 billion every year, with each single fatality costing the community about $1.5 million and every serious injury costing approximately $400,000”

Transport Accident Commission, 2010

Ultimately patients with serious injuries require some sort of prolonged hospital admission and in addition a rehabilitation program to assist them to return to their pre accident state if possible. However, the true effects of trauma goes beyond the significant health care costs.. These individuals are young, productive members of the workforce, permanent or temporary loss of their potential working years is a further detriment to the community, not to mention the ongoing emotional effects to family and friends.

The P.A.R.T.Y program

Young people are at more risk of becoming a victim of trauma than any other age group. Unsafe driving, drinking and other risky behaviours increase their chances of being killed or injured in a traumatic incident (car accident, fall, assault). Our P.A.R.T.Y program aims to help young people understand risks, choices and consequences.